Consultation and assignment
Days 1–3
Separate Ayurvedic and Sowa Rigpa consultations, bloods, and a programme assigned by the joint team.
- Two diagnostic traditions
- Arrival pathology
- Programme assigned, not chosen
Sowa RigpaSix Senses Vana · Rishikesh, India
The integrated fortnight, 14 nights
Ayurveda, Sowa Rigpa and yoga under one clinical team — so the physician can choose the tradition rather than defend one.
From · sharingUS$5,750
From · singleUS$6,920
Per person. Sole occupancy is not half a double, and we would rather you saw both now.
- Length
- 14 nights
- Group
- Max 10
- Intensity
- moderate
- Lengths
- 14 · 21 · 28 nights
- Discipline
- Sowa Rigpa
What this actually is
The programme
One of very few houses anywhere running Ayurveda and Sowa Rigpa side by side with a shared clinical team. You are assigned a programme after consultation and there is no menu to order from — the assignment is the product.
Sowa Rigpa contributes pulse and urine diagnosis, Himalayan formulations and moxibustion; Ayurveda contributes the therapy structure. Where they disagree, a physician decides rather than a spa manager.
Intensity: Moderate — you will notice it. Every programme here carries this line, because "restorative" and "demanding" are sold with the same photographs.
Read this part twice
Who this is for, and who it is wrong for
Read the right-hand column as carefully as the left. It is the half that decides whether this is a good fortnight or a wasted one, and it is published before the price for that reason.
✓Book this if
- Chronic complaints that have not responded to one tradition alone
- Anyone who wants the assignment made for them by clinicians
- Guests who value structure and dislike ordering from a menu
✗Do not book this if
- Anyone wanting a specific named treatment — you do not choose here
- Guests expecting a resort; the tone is deliberately institutional
- Anyone unwilling to surrender their phone in the public areas
The shape of it
Day by day
Days shift according to how you respond — that is the point of a daily review. This is the structure, not a timetable.
Treatment
Days 4–11
Daily therapy from whichever tradition the team selected, with moxibustion or Himalayan formulations where indicated, and a full daily practice schedule.
- Daily therapy block
- Moxibustion where indicated
- Yoga and meditation daily
Protocol
Days 12–14
A single written protocol drawing on both traditions, with three months of preparations.
- Combined written protocol
- Three months of preparations
- Eight-week follow-up
A day, hour by hour
What a Tuesday actually looks like
Five hours are fixed and nothing is chosen by you — the assignment is the product.
- Wake
- PracticeYoga or qi-based movement, per your assignment.
- BreakfastSilent for the first half-hour.
- ConsultationAlternating between the Ayurvedic and Sowa Rigpa leads.
- Therapy blockTwo to three hours from whichever tradition the team selected.
- Lunch
- RestPhones stay in the room; the public areas are device-free.
- Second therapy, or moxibustion
- Dinner, then silence from nine
Where you stay
Six Senses Vana
The most programme-disciplined retreat in India — it opened in 2014 as Vana with no à la carte menu at all, and was rebranded under Six Senses in 2023.
Six Senses VanaMalsi Estate, Dehradun · India
The rebrand to Six Senses reportedly changed the management and, by several accounts, some of the austerity that made the original notable — we could not independently confirm the date of the transition. We list it because the clinical structure survives, but if you stayed in 2016 and are expecting exactly that, ask us what has changed before you book.
The full profile →Who looks after you
Supervision, by qualification and number
You will not find a physician's name on this site. Staff move, and a page that names one is a page that quietly goes out of date — worse, it invites you to book a person no house can promise will be on shift. Assignment is made on arrival, from your examination, at every serious property here.
- Clinical supervision
- Physicians in Ayurveda and in Sowa Rigpa — the Tibetan system, taught at a national institute in Bhutan and integrated into public healthcare there — working with natural-therapy and yoga teams.
- The team around you
- The arrival assessment decides which tradition leads. That decision is the reason to come here rather than to a single-discipline house.
- Consultations
- An opening assessment across the traditions, mid-stay review and a departure consultation with a written protocol.
Your consultation is with our clinical desk, not a salesperson. The free call before you book is about whether this programme is right for you at all — and often enough it ends with a recommendation to go shorter, later, or somewhere we do not sell.
Counted, so you can compare
What is actually in it
Most of this industry publishes inclusions as a bulleted list, which cannot be compared between two programmes at two prices. These can.
- 30+hours of therapy
Across Ayurveda, Sowa Rigpa and natural therapies — assigned by the assessment, not chosen from a list.
- 3traditions assessed
Ayurvedic, Tibetan and yogic, together, at arrival. Almost nowhere else does this in one building.
- 14hours of movement
Yoga, meditation and the movement timetable, one to one and in groups.
- 0menus
One kitchen, no a la carte, portions matched to the programme. Guests find this the hardest and best part.
The money
Prices, by season and occupancy
Both occupancies in every band, before you enquire rather than after. Sole occupancy is not half a double and never has been — publishing only the sharing rate quotes the minority of this market and surprises the rest.
Long enough for all three traditions to be assessed and for one of them to lead.
| Season | Sharing | Single |
|---|---|---|
| Low seasonMay, June, July and August | US$5,750 | US$6,920 |
| ShoulderDecember, January and September | US$6,530 | US$7,830 |
| High seasonFebruary to April, October and November | US$7,570 | US$9,140 |
- Low season. Too hot for a full schedule in May and June; landslide season in the hills in July and August. We sell these months only to people who ask for them.
- Shoulder. Cold clear mornings and unheated halls in midwinter; September is still emptying out after the monsoon.
- High season. Warm days, cold nights, and a river running green. The months to come, and priced accordingly.
What the price is. Per person for fourteen nights, including the room, all meals from the single kitchen, the assessed programme of therapies, the daily movement and meditation timetable, consultations across all three traditions and return transfers from Dehradun. There is no a la carte and nothing to add on. Flights quoted separately.
Illustrative, and held for seven days once we have quoted you in writing. Nothing on this site costs more for booking it through us.
The detail
What the price covers
Included
- Fourteen nights
- All consultations across both traditions
- All therapies and preparations
- All meals
- Full daily practice schedule
- Transfers from Dehradun
- Eight-week follow-up
Not included
- Flights, visa and insurance — flights quoted separately
- Anything à la carte, because there is nothing à la carte
Cancellation. Free to 30 days before arrival. Half between 30 and 14 days. Inside 14 days we hold the full amount as a credit for twelve months rather than keeping it — a cancelled treatment is usually a health reason.
Questions
The ones we are actually asked
What changed when Six Senses took over?
The management and some of the austerity, by several accounts. The clinical structure survives, which is why we still list it — but if you stayed under the original ownership and expect exactly that, ask us what has changed before you book.